MSI Modern 15 - A11S

Hardware	PCI/USB ID	Working?
Touchpad	`04f3:30aa`	Yes
Keyboard		Yes
GPU	`8086:9a49`	Yes
Webcam	`5986:211c`	Yes
Bluetooth	`8087:0026`	Yes
SD-card reader	`10ec:525a`	Yes
Audio	`8086:a0c8`	Yes
Wireless	`8086:a0f0`	Yes
TPM		Yes

The information below is valid for models:

Modern 15 A11SB
Modern 15 A11M
Modern 15 A11SBL
Modern 15 A11ML
Modern 15 A11SBU
Modern 15 A11MU

Installation

Secure Boot needs to be disabled at first startup and after UEFI updates. Append intel-ucode and intel-media-driver to pacstrap.

This laptop is supported by the community developed Embedded Controller for MSI laptops driver.

Firmware

Some devices can be listed with fwupd, but MSI does not provide updates via the LVFS.

Secure Boot functions well with custom keys, make sure to disable automatic reverting to factory keys in the UEFI settings.

Install upd72020x-fw^AUR for module xhci_pci. See Mkinitcpio#Possibly missing firmware for module XXXX.

To update Intel Management Engine firmware, See Laptop/MSI#Intel Management Engine.

Warning: Passing an excessively long path for the loader through efibootmgr (e.g. with an EFI boot stub) may result in being stuck on the logo screen, without access to UEFI. To solve this, unplug NVMe drives and then power up the laptop to clear all UEFI boot entries.

Sound

This laptop requires Sound Open Firmware in order for the sound card to work.

Accessibility

The BIOS interface is keyboard driven and does not require the use of a mouse.

Thermals

Fan control can be tuned by installing isw^AUR.

Configuration entry for Modern 15 A11M is missing, and needs to be added manually (PR: https://github.com/YoyPa/isw/issues/152):

/etc/isw.conf

[1552EMS1]
# A11M-217XIT
# 1552EMS1.1071023
address_profile = MSI_ADDRESS_DEFAULT
fan_mode = 140
# CPU
cpu_temp_0 = 50
cpu_temp_1 = 58
cpu_temp_2 = 65
cpu_temp_3 = 70
cpu_temp_4 = 90
cpu_temp_5 = 95
cpu_fan_speed_0 = 45
cpu_fan_speed_1 = 58
cpu_fan_speed_2 = 65
cpu_fan_speed_3 = 72
cpu_fan_speed_4 = 80
cpu_fan_speed_5 = 85
cpu_fan_speed_6 = 100
# GPU
gpu_temp_0 = 50
gpu_temp_1 = 60
gpu_temp_2 = 70
gpu_temp_3 = 82
gpu_temp_4 = 90
gpu_temp_5 = 93
gpu_fan_speed_0 = 0
gpu_fan_speed_1 = 50
gpu_fan_speed_2 = 65
gpu_fan_speed_3 = 72
gpu_fan_speed_4 = 80
gpu_fan_speed_5 = 85
gpu_fan_speed_6 = 100

To activate a personalized profile, you need to set the value 0xd4 to 64. You can set your profile adding to autostart the following two lines (PR: https://github.com/YoyPa/isw/issues/152):

# isw -w 1552EMS1
# isw -s 0xd4 64

To autostart you can also use the provided [email protected], but you will need use a drop-in snippet:

/etc/systemd/system/[email protected]/override.conf

[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/bin/isw -w %I -s 0xd4 64

Then start/enable [email protected].

Function keys

The keyboard backlight works properly.

Keyboard LEDs :

F1 (Audio mute) and F5 (Microphone status) : not working
Esc, Power and Caps Lock : working

Key	Marked¹	XKB	Libinput	Notes
`Fn+Esc`	Yes	Not visible²	`KEY_FN_ESC`	Quick FN Launch Keys
`Fn+F1`	Yes	`XF86AudioMute`	`KEY_MUTE`
`Fn+F2`	Yes	`XF86AudioLowerVolume`	`KEY_VOLUMEDOWN`
`Fn+F3`	Yes	`XF86AudioRaiseVolume`	`KEY_VOLUMEUP`
`Fn+F4`	Yes	`XF86TouchpadToggle`	`KEY_LEFTMETA` && `KEY_F21`
`Fn+F5`	Yes	`XF86AudioMicMute`	`KEY_F20`
`Fn+F6`	Yes	`XF86WebCam`	`KEY_CAMERA`
`Fn+F7`	Yes	`XF86Launch1`	`KEY_PROG1`	no effect (MSI Center Pro)
`Fn+F8`	Yes	Not visible²	Not visible²	Toggle keyboard backlight levels
`Fn+F9`	Yes	`XF86MonBrightnessDown`	`KEY_BRIGHTNESSDOWN`
`Fn+F10`	Yes	`XF86MonBrightnessUp`	`KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP`
`Fn+F11`	Yes	`Super_L`	`KEY_LEFTMETA` && `KEY_P`	Switch display
`Fn+F12`	Yes	`XF86Launch2`	`KEY_PROG2`	no effect (Rotate screen)
`Fn+Print`	Yes	`Super_L`	`KEY_LEFTMETA` && `KEY_LEFTSHIFT` && `KEY_S`	no effect (Capture screen zone)

The physical key has a symbol on it, which describes its function
The key is visible to xev and similar tools
systemd-logind handles this by default